Not So Homestuck
by turntechDeadhead
Summary: With money and fame on their mind, Dave and John leave home to start a musical career in New York City together, with nothing but a bag of clothes each, stolen money and two cans of soup. Will they find their fame, or gain nothing but nights in the gutter? Rated for language and later heavy themes.
1. Hopes

Not So Homestuck

**Warning, I'm not trying to tell anybody to steal money from their parents and run away from home.**

John smiled happily to himself and closed the piano lid, wriggling his fingers to help them get used to not being used. Playing the piano was pretty fun, and it made Dad smile.

"Good job, John," Dad said, as he always did after John's piano sessions. The black haired boy chuckled and shrugged, getting up. Dad sometimes told his work friends that his son was a fourteen year old Beethoven, to which John would groan and trudge away, not wanting too much fuss. "Whatever, Dad. Can I go on the computer now?"

John's father nodded and brought his pipe to his lips, adding as John left the room, "I'm so proud of you, son." His words were met with a chuckle and a lazy, "alright, jeez. Thank you."

Blue eyes trailed over the urn on the fireplace and the various harlequin related items around the room, bringing distaste to John's face. Harlequins were so STUPID, why did Dad even like them? John's mind could never seem to work out what the fascination was. They were basically clowns in dumb hats, right?

After entering his room, John closed the door and checked it was closed properly, as the door sometimes jammed a little and slipped back open, which was both annoying and, in some cases, awkward for everyone involved. The room, awesome as ever, was a little messy, so John put a few items of clothing back in the closet and some stuff under the bed to clear it up a little, and then sat down at his desk, double clicking on Pesterchum.

The only chum online was turntechGodhead, which was always fun. John went to double click on the name, but Dave beat him to it and a chat box opened itself first.

- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ghostyTrickster –

TG: yo john hows it goin man

GT: oh, pretty well actually.

GT: i just got done with my piano session, so i'm free all day now.

TG: awesome thats the kinda stuff i like hearing because ive got a bunch of wicked sick ideas and stuff to lay on you bro

TG: stay seated this shit is going to blow your balls off literally

GT: jesus, dave. i'd never have associated you and blowing my balls.

TG: fuck you

GT: hehehehe. you set yourself up for that one, c'mon.

TG: yeah whatever can we stop fucking around for once here and listen to me

TG: is that what you can do john

GT: yeah, sure. hit me, what's up?

TG: well bro got some new gear and set me up with some sick machinery to spin out some tunes right

GT: sounds cool, dude. are you going to try and make some money off that?

GT: because your music isn't too bad. your rapping isn't exactly the best, but what do i know about rap?

TG: exactly so shut up and yes im gonna get loaded from it

TG: which is where you come in dude

GT: me? what can i do?

TG: your piano skills dude come on keep up

TG: if i set you up with a keyboard you can cash in on my gig and well be swimming in choice ass in no time

GT: i dunno man… that sounds like this could go all kinds of wrong in lots of ways.

TG: no seriously swing my way sometime soon and ill come meet you halfway there

TG: bring cash and some stuff ill do the same and itll be great cmon man nobody else will be in on this youre my best friend dont leave me hangin here man

John sighed and shook his head, grinning stupidly. Maybe it was the fact that he was fourteen and everything with money and fame was appealing to him, but Dave's plan sounded like a lot of fun. I mean, not to brag or anything, but John was pretty great with a piano, and Dave's musical skills were good enough to get the right crowd interested.

Of course the idea itself was retarded and probably would fail, and when that inevitably happened, a quick phone call to his father would be enough to get him home. He figured Dad would be more upset that he'd left more than wasting time and money on this stupid thing.

GT: well… i guess it could be fun. maybe.

TG: fuck yes i knew youd be cool with it

TG: get your stuff ready and get back to me well decide what way we can go to meet up

GT: this is stupid dave, i can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this.

John turned his eyes away from the computer and went over to the closet again, fishing out a small backpack that he used for school. Inside it he stuffed a few shirts, some underwear and some jeans, because shorts only last till Autumn, and crept outside into the hallway.

'_I hope dad isn't in his room…_' John put an ear to the door of Dad's room and waited. No sound came from within, so the boy pushed the door open and cast his eyes around for the wallet he knew his father kept in here unless he was going out.

Having only visited his dad's room twice, John had to go further inside and check inside the desk drawers before he found it and scurried back into his room.

GT: dave?

GT: i've got clothes and money, for now, what do i do?

TG: here hang on

Dave then sent John a link to a flight booking page, with a destination already loaded up and waiting for purchase. John quickly inspected the details and gagged when he saw Dave intended to meet in New York City, a flight that would cost well over one hundred dollars.

GT: dave are you fucking crazy?

TG: what no anybody can get money in nyc

GT: dave! my dad will notice $100 missing!

TG: hell also notice his son is gone

TG: i fail to see what the big deal is

GT: yeah but…

GT: this

GT: fuck you, this is too much!

TG: no man cmon well be able to pay him back dont drop out on me ive already paid

John groaned and looked around, as if expecting his father to pop up over his shoulder and catch him in the act. Of course, he didn't, and the blue eyed boy nervously put his father's details into the right spaces and hit enter.

GT: done.

TG: awesome

TG: your tickets and shit should arrive in a day or two and itll tell you when youre set to go

GT: dave i feel bad. this is basically stealing from my dad.

TG: who cares i paid from bros pc

GT: yeah but your bro is like neck deep in money he wont care

TG: look man calm down its going to be fine

GT: i hope you're right dave…

**Find out what happens next in the next part, obviously.**


	2. Preparations

Not So Homestuck

The tickets had indeed arrived two days later. John had to stay up all night and take them from the mailman personally outside the house and hide them. The paperwork told John that his flight was on the fifteenth, and it was currently the thirteenth.

John had emptied his piggy bank out and happily found fifty dollars inside. The boy had never known what he was saving up for; it was more of a habit he'd kept from his childhood when his father told him to save money for a rainy day. And jumping out of your home into an unknown city with your best friend on a dream really counted as a rainy day to John.

It must have been obvious to Dad that John was up to something. He was spending more time with him than usual and telling him over and over that he loved him, was proud of him and other such things. John was trying to avoid it, but it wasn't easy. He was trying to keep John away from the computer more, too, and indirectly keeping him from contacting Dave, to make sure this whole plan was still go.

It wasn't until Dad had gone to the store that day could John get a chance to log onto Pesterchum and open a chat with Dave.

– ghostyTrickster [GT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] –

GT: dave?

TG: hey man where you been lately

GT: dealing with dad. i think he's onto me, dude.

TG: man cmon just bear with him youll be outta there in no time

GT: yeah, you're right but… i feel bad just leaving him here, y'know?

TG: i getcha man but i promise itll be alright

GT: siiiigh. well see i guess

GT: how much money are you bringing?

TG: about 250

GT: what?

GT: as in two hundred?

TG: yeah bro what how much do you have

GT: fifty

TG: oh my god that is pathetic ill have to loan you some

GT: this is starting to sound like a horrible idea more and more.

TG: no man cmon itll be great just you wait

John sighed and signed off, not bothering to give Dave a goodbye. A lot of him was already starting to regret agreeing to this endeavour with Dave. There was no way things could go well for either of them, no matter how insistent Dave was about it.

And yet the rest of John was excited about going to New York! Even if they didn't hit it big, the money between them could make a pretty swell vacation for the two of them, so really there was very little that could go wrong. The only part of this whole thing that bugged John was the flight money and leaving Dad.

John looked out of the window and watched the afternoon slowly drip away and the sky slowly darken. This could well be, if Dave was right, the last time he saw this neighbourhood, so he made sure to get a good look at all he could see.

Getting up, John exited his room and quickly went into the front room, finding his Dad sat on the couch, watching the evening news. The older man looked up when John entered the room and said, "Doing alright, champ?" John pulled a smile to his lips and replied brightly, "yeah! I just wanted to come and watch this with you," John didn't even look at the screen but pointed.

Dad raised an eyebrow and patted the seat next to him, which John gladly took and smiled, leaning against his father. "I never knew you had an interest in current affairs, John," Dad said, smiling down at his son. John shrugged back and replied, "I want to surprise my geography teacher on Monday by telling her all of the big stuff that went off, y'know?" The lie was blatant, and he suspected his dad was onto him, but it wasn't called out and the two sat watching in silence.

"Dad?"

"Yes, John?"

"I love you."

Dad turned and looked down at John, who was still looking at the screen, trying to look as if it was just a casual thing he said just to put out there. The older man smiled and said gently, "I love you too, John."

The two of them sat and watched the news to its end, and then both went upstairs and went to rest in their rooms.

* * *

John sat up the next day and reached to his right, grabbing his glasses and popping them onto his face. Looking down at himself, he saw he'd fallen asleep in his clothes and ran a hand through his hair, looking at the clock on the stand, seeing it read 10:30am. Wow! John hardly ever slept so late in; the boy was usually awake by 8.

After dragging himself out of bed and having a quick shower, John went to get breakfast. Dad was at work until five, so John had all day to think of a goodbye letter and check his packed things were all ready to go.

It was at this point the scale of the situation finally hit John and, looking at some photos on the wall of his younger self with Dad, tears formed in his eyes and the blue eyed boy left the room, running to his room and kicking it open, leaving a mark on the door. John crossed the room quickly and started his computer up, ready to drop out of this shit and return everything to how it should be, when something _slammed _downstairs.

"John!" It was Dad? "John, answer me young man!" Why was he home so early… Unless…

John's heart sank as he realised, Dad must have found out somehow money was missing from his bank account, and he probably suspected John was involved. Footsteps on the stairs made John go into panic mode and he dived across his room, slamming the door shut loudly. As it shut there was a dull _CHUK _noise, and John suspected the door had jammed again.

He then reached for his shoes and pulled them on, quickly scrambling across the floor for his bag of stuff, hearing Dad trying to force the door open and yelling at him. John put the strap around him and got up, ran to the balcony. His blue eyes combed the blank platform in panic and, hearing the door start to slip open, took a deep breath and jumped over the side railing, grabbing a tree branch, dangling in the air, already regretting this move.

"Oh my God what did I just-" A very unpleasant creaking noise emanated from the tree and in seconds, John was rushing down to the floor. His body hit the grass with a thud and the wind was knocked out of him.

John lay on the floor, gasping for a few seconds until he heard Dad shouting from above him, which filled him with energy to force himself up and bolt. The raven headed male ran around the house and down the driveway, onto the street and across the road, blindly running through his neighbourhood, trying to lose his most likely following father.

John's feet started to sting more and more with every time they slapped against the pavement, but the pain was worth it. The houses eventually ceased and John was running past hills and a lake along the road into the city. Each footstep took him one step closer to the airport, which he couldn't make use of until tomorrow.

* * *

Meanwhile, a few hundred miles or so away from John, Dave Strider was just putting a new shirt and pair of jeans into a bag, running a hand over his hair to make sure his totally sweet style wasn't in any mess. Hair still good? Check.

The blonde boy looked across the room and looked at Lil'Cal. Cal was the shit, yeah, but was it fair to take him with, and leave Bro by himself? Probably not, and it'd be likely to get stolen if he took such a rare puppet around New York.

"Sorry, Lil'man, you gotta stay," Dave said, staring at the puppet. Of course, Cal stared back at Dave and didn't reply. Because he was a fucking puppet, did you expect him to talk? Idiot.

Getting up, Dave strolled into the main room, nodding to his brother on the sofa and made his way to the kitchen, opening the microwave to pluck out some cold pizza. Bro was, as usual, nowhere to be seen. Probably slapping down some hardcore tunes or hitting a gym somewhere. Bro was always up to insane cool stuff without telling Dave, just like Dave did unbelievably awesome stuff and didn't tell Bro. They had a mutual agreement that both of their work was silently the most awesome work ever. That was just how it was, and would stay. At least until Dave wasn't around anymore and hit it up big time. Then every awesome thing he did would be major news, of course.

Right now Dave wasn't doing much at the moment, just putting shit away and waiting for John to come back online. What a dick, signing off like that! Who even leaves their best bro hanging like that? Douches, that's who. And on the subject of douches, wouldn't it be cool to see what John was doing while he waits for the next day?

The answer, of course, is no. Nobody gives a shit. He probably slept on a bench or some shit, we don't care, because nothing is happening yet, so let's move the story along before people get bored of this stupid narration and stop reading.

**If you didn't notice, I got bored and wanted to upload something.**


End file.
